FEPA Medal for Exceptional Study and Research 2021
Pedro Vaz Pereira (Portugal)
for Os Correios Portugueses 1853-1900 / The Portuguese Post 1853-1900 (2 vols)
After 42 years’ work on this study of Portuguese postal history, Pedro Marçal Vaz Pereira has published a work of great historical quality.
The first 300 pages survey the story of the Portuguese Postal Service from 1520 to 1853. It begins with the creation of the post office in Portugal on November 6 1520. King D. Manuel I was in Évora and, following what was happening throughout Europe, he decided to create a post office in Portugal and assign the post of Correio-Mor of the kingdom to Luís Homem, a gentleman of his royal house. From then on we would witness an unstoppable development of the mail, continuing until today.
However, the main focus is on the Adhesive Period which began on July 1, 1853, with the creation of postage stamps in Portugal. An exhaustive study is carried out of the undated word marks used in almost all post offices in that period and intended to indicate where letters were sent or the type of service that had been provided. A historical study of the etymology of land names and charters is also carried out.
The postal reforms, in which the marks were used, are also described, as well as all the post offices which had electric telegraphy and were served by the railways. The number of houses and the population of each district are also listed. This information is essential to define the rarity of postal material, taking into account that in Portugal around 85% of the population was illiterate in the 19th century. Thus, the fewer the number of inhabitants, the fewer letters and cards were written meaning that less postal material exists now.
This work is published by CTT-Correios de Portugal and the Portuguese Federation of Philately. It commemorates 500 years of Correio (postal services) in Portugal.